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The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice
This groundbreaking resource moves us from theory to action with a practical plan for reparations.
A surge in interest in black reparations is taking place in America on a scale not seen since the Reconstruction Era. The Black Reparations Project gathers an accomplished interdisciplinary team of scholars—members of the Reparations Planning Committee—who have considered the issues pertinent to making reparations happen. This book will be an essential resource in the national conversation going forward.
The first section of The Black Reparations Project crystallizes the rationale for reparations, cataloguing centuries of racial repression, discrimination, violence, mass incarceration, and the immense black-white wealth gap. Drawing on the contributors’ expertise in economics, history, law, public policy, public health, and education, the second section unfurls direct guidance for building and implementing a reparations program, including draft legislation that addresses how the program should be financed and how claimants can be identified and compensated. Rigorous and comprehensive, The Black Reparations Project will motivate, guide, and speed the final leg of the journey for justice.
A surge in interest in black reparations is taking place in America on a scale not seen since the Reconstruction Era. The Black Reparations Project gathers an accomplished interdisciplinary team of scholars—members of the Reparations Planning Committee—who have considered the issues pertinent to making reparations happen. This book will be an essential resource in the national conversation going forward.
The first section of The Black Reparations Project crystallizes the rationale for reparations, cataloguing centuries of racial repression, discrimination, violence, mass incarceration, and the immense black-white wealth gap. Drawing on the contributors’ expertise in economics, history, law, public policy, public health, and education, the second section unfurls direct guidance for building and implementing a reparations program, including draft legislation that addresses how the program should be financed and how claimants can be identified and compensated. Rigorous and comprehensive, The Black Reparations Project will motivate, guide, and speed the final leg of the journey for justice.
- GenresRaceNonfiction
437 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 23, 2023
14 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
William A. Darity Jr.
34 books38 followersWilliam A. "Sandy" Darity, Jr. is an American economist and researcher. He is currently the Arts and Sciences Professor of Public Policy in the Sanford School at Duke University and was the Cary C. Boshamer Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of North Carolina. Darity was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors in 1984, and from 1989 to 1990 was a fellow at the National Humanities Center. He is a former President of the Southern Economic Association.
His varied research interests have included economic stratification, the African diaspora, the economics of black reparations, group-based post traumatic stress disorder, and social and economic policy as they relate to race and ethnicity. [wikipedia]
His varied research interests have included economic stratification, the African diaspora, the economics of black reparations, group-based post traumatic stress disorder, and social and economic policy as they relate to race and ethnicity. [wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 17, 2025
So far, of all the books I’ve read about reparations, this one was the most well explained. They provided the math and showed their work! When you see the numbers, plain as day, it’s hard to argue, not that I was arguing, but it makes for excellent ammunition to use against naysayers.
June 29, 2023
A solid read on the topic on reparations, although not quite as thorough as the editor's own previous work (From Here to Equality).
I come to the subject as a friendly reader, having been convinced that reparations are ultimately a good idea some 23 years ago by an episode of The West Wing, where I first learned of the concept. I still struggle with how to make it actually happen.
This book makes a good case for reparations beyond the discussion of slavery and the continued impact of discriminatory practices by also providing context for other similar programs throughout modern history, especially relating to Japanese Internment and (to a lesser degree) the Holocaust. This is especially thought-provoking, because those events are in living memory, but in many cases, the heirs of those who experienced those wrongs were also included in redress.
The focus on proving lineage to an enslaved person was at times uncomfortable, because genealogical information for those ancestor/descendant groups can be so sparse. I wonder if energies might better be spent elsewhere? Even the descendants of freemen would have experienced Jim Crow, red lining, police violence, the carceral state, and health and education disparities solely based on race. Wouldn't it make more sense to set a date (perhaps around 1945?) to prove one's ancestors were racialized as black and living in the US? That aside, the chapter on how to do this research was very good and likely useful to descendants even outside this conversation.
Overall, a solid collection that adds to a conversation that I hope to see move forward in my lifetime, although it could have used a tighter concluding chapter.
Readers should also consider picking up "From Here to Equality" (Darity, Mullen) for a more in-depth read.
I come to the subject as a friendly reader, having been convinced that reparations are ultimately a good idea some 23 years ago by an episode of The West Wing, where I first learned of the concept. I still struggle with how to make it actually happen.
This book makes a good case for reparations beyond the discussion of slavery and the continued impact of discriminatory practices by also providing context for other similar programs throughout modern history, especially relating to Japanese Internment and (to a lesser degree) the Holocaust. This is especially thought-provoking, because those events are in living memory, but in many cases, the heirs of those who experienced those wrongs were also included in redress.
The focus on proving lineage to an enslaved person was at times uncomfortable, because genealogical information for those ancestor/descendant groups can be so sparse. I wonder if energies might better be spent elsewhere? Even the descendants of freemen would have experienced Jim Crow, red lining, police violence, the carceral state, and health and education disparities solely based on race. Wouldn't it make more sense to set a date (perhaps around 1945?) to prove one's ancestors were racialized as black and living in the US? That aside, the chapter on how to do this research was very good and likely useful to descendants even outside this conversation.
Overall, a solid collection that adds to a conversation that I hope to see move forward in my lifetime, although it could have used a tighter concluding chapter.
Readers should also consider picking up "From Here to Equality" (Darity, Mullen) for a more in-depth read.
June 14, 2023
Nonsense squared.
I gave it a try. I REALLY REALLY wanted to have my mind changed, but nope. After reading this I am even more convinced that this is the worst political idea in the history of the world.
I gave it a try. I REALLY REALLY wanted to have my mind changed, but nope. After reading this I am even more convinced that this is the worst political idea in the history of the world.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews